Flow

My Lovely Lounge Lizards, so glad to have you back again. Are your shoes off yet? Because we have an episode chock full of classic lounge segments sure to lull you into a relaxed state of graphic education. We start with a question from our Viewer Mail hotline, in which Deke not only distinguishes between Opacity, Fill, and Flow, but also throws a spontaneous secret handshake into the mix and graciously puts up with my ineptitude at using text in Photoshop. We follow that excitement up with an unusually amiable He Said She Said regarding whether it's easy to "write" in words or pictures first.

Here are the specifics on my cryptic allusions above the graphic: Read more » 

Followers of this site may recall a recent Martini Hour in which Colleen and I interview Karen Gauthier, product manager of a promising new application called GridIron Flow. Karen and I go way back to her days with Adobe, and as she's fond of reminding me, I talked her into joining GridIron. So it is with some pride I announce that Flow begins shipping today. (Coincidentally, Flow ships within a few days of the anniversary of dekeOnline, a project that Karen talked me into. So we're even, ha!)

Flow has been in development for the better part of the last two years, and it looks to me like time well spent. In fact, I regard Flow as essential software for any creative professional. For complete info, check out the Martini Hour episode (it's fairly entertaining, actually) or this ancient blog post.

The software is normally $299. But you can get Flow for just $199 at gridironflow.com/deke. That's $100 off, but only until July 3 at midnight Pacific. (If you start hearing fireworks here in the U.S., it's over.) After that, gridironflow.com/deke will get you $50 off. Either way, it's a great deal. Though, obviously, this week is better than next.

Read more » 

If you've ever had one too many martinis and can't remember where you stored the components of your complicated project, this week's guest has the answer for you. Veteran product manager, Karen Gauthier—our first ever international visitor to the dekeLounge—travels all the way from Ottawa (that's in Canada, you know) to bring us a preview of GridIron Flow. Flow is an amazing product that keeps track of your digital files and presents them to you in a beautiful, detailed map. In fact, Flow is so sexy it inspired this week's graphic.

We're guessing Flow will be the Best New Design Product of 2009, and we have something special for you: a wicked good deal. Thanks to our large and swelling ranks (>10,000 members before the month is out!), GridIron Software has seen fit to offer denizens of dekeTropolis a special deal: $50 off the purchase price of Flow. It's a unique discount available only from this URL: gridironflow.com/deke. Would we steer you wrong? No we would not. (We choose our partners! They do not choose us! Power to the dekeple!)

As you consider your purchase, here's what's in store in this week's episode: Read more » 

Update: As of 29 June 2009, Flow is now shipping. To order a copy at a special dekeOnline discount, go to gridironflow.com/deke.

Forgive our relative lack of blogging this week. But between Photoshop World and the pre-announcement of CS4, Colleen and I have been maxed to the gills. (Is that the right phrase? I ask b/c it doesn't make any damn sense. Even so, you know what I mean.)

Regardless of how busy we are, things are afoot. For example, if you hold your ear to the ground closely you can hear, just below the thunderous approach of CS4 (think T-rex), a softer but more animated advancement (3 or 4 velociraptors) that I'm thinking might be every bit as exciting. That softer sound is Gridiron Flow.

One of the most ambitious applications I've witnessed in years, Flow stands poised to be that one killer non-Adobe app that every designer cannot live without. (And I don't say that lightly. We designers can live without food, family, sleep, friends . . . just about everything.) Read more » 

So, here's a question that's been coming up a lot this week. How do the majority of people manage their photos? Does your system work, or do you scramble? It all started when I got an announcement that last spring's division-winning All-Star team was finally going to celebrate their victory, and did I have photos for a slideshow? Um... yeah, somewhere, organized by one of the draft versions of Lightroom I was using. Or still stuck on a card because I've been, uh, less-than-diligent and more-than-hella-busy.

Where did I stash those photos of yesteryear (or even last July?) Read more »